


Moth to a Flame: Chapter Four

by gemini_cole



Series: HenryxPoppy [6]
Category: British Actor RPF, Henry Cavill - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-26
Updated: 2014-10-26
Packaged: 2018-02-22 18:55:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2518259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemini_cole/pseuds/gemini_cole





	Moth to a Flame: Chapter Four

“Cut! Everyone take five for a re-set!”

Poppy sighed, and stretched as she stood from her position on the on-set couch. Following Henry, they made their way to their chairs for a makeup and hair touch up. A passing PA handed Henry a coffee and Poppy a water. They had been back to work for three days now, and it almost felt like old times. Almost, being the distance between Poppy and Henry. Like the proverbial elephant in the room, it was tacitly agreed that they were now professionals, and nothing more. Poppy would only admit it to herself that she missed their teasing, and playful banter of before. Henry had driven her nuts, but it made the days at work fly by. Things were so quiet now; she had actually started bringing a book for the moments between shots when she was left waiting. She had just gotten back into a conversation between Monsieur and Madame Villefort in “ _The Count of Monte Cristo_ ” when Henry’s voice interrupted her reading.

“Why do you let him do that to you?”

Poppy looked over at him confusedly, and then looked around the set. “What do you mean? Whom are you talking about?”

Henry regarded her shrewdly. “You know what I’m talking about. At dinner, that night at The Ivy. Benedict. He gave you shit about ordering dessert and you just let him. Why?”

Poppy closed her book. Very deliberately she took a sip of water, trying to calm her suddenly thudding heart. Finally she sat up a little straighter and looked him straight in the eye as she said, “I didn’t _let_ him do anything. Benedict’s a big boy, and he is responsible for his own actions. And furthermore, I thought I acquitted myself quite well that night. It’s not as though I ran off crying to the ladies room or something. He made a suggestion; I declined to take his advice. End of story. Besides that, your darling Jessica gave me crap about it too, I don’t hear you saying anything about that.”

“She’s not my darling anything. And who says I didn’t?”

“Well, did you?”

“That’s not the issue here.”

Poppy rolled her eyes. “I see, if it’s me and my issue, it’s all out on the table for discussions, but with you its ‘not the issue.” That’s fair.”

Henry got up and out of his chair so abruptly it fell backwards with a clatter. In the ensuing hush of the stunned set, he stalked away, but not before spitting out, “at least I had the decency to recriminate her in private. Unlike your boyfriend.”

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

 

“Which one? This one or this one?” Poppy held up one dress then another as Hannah lay on her bed.

“Neither.”

Poppy rolled her eyes, and tossed both dresses into the “discard” pile. “How about this one,” as she pulled out a flowing black maxi dress and held it up.

“Nope. Too informal. And a long skirt for a party at a club? God, you are hopeless, Sis.” Hannah hopped off the bed and joined Poppy in her closet. As she began rifling through what was left of her clothing, Poppy flopped onto the floor and watched, content to let her sister dress her for the night. It was the “welcome back” party for the cast and crew of the show, and Poppy was expected to be there. Ben would be there to pick her up in two hours and Poppy still couldn’t make herself get excited for it.  Given her spat with Henry this afternoon, she didn’t want to be anywhere near him anymore than she had to be. What right did he have, yelling at her like that, and in front of everyone they worked with?

“Here. This is what you should wear tonight. With these heels, and that bracelet I gave you for your birthday. And wear your hair down, but pull the sides back so it’s out of your face, ok?” Hannah handed her a red silk, tiered dress with a halter-style neckline, with a pair of gold gladiator heels. As always, Hannah had put together the perfect outfit in the amount of time it took Poppy to put on pajamas.

“Han, I don’t wanna go. Can’t I just stay home with you tonight? Remember when we would have movie nights here at home? Just the two of us in our pajamas,

a bowl of popcorn, watching “ _Wild America_ ” for the hundredth time?”

Hannah sat down next to her on the floor and methodically began rehanging her discarded dresses. Poppy put her head on Hannah’s shoulder as she sighed.

“Why don’t you want to go? Is it because Jessica will be there?”

“No. I mean, yes, she’ll probably be there. But that’s not why I don’t want to go. Things are just so awkward between Henry and I now that I feel like I can’t say or do anything without him judging me or something. I know we can’t go back to the way we were, but this is just awful.”

Hannah stood up and began hanging up the dresses. Turning back to Poppy, she offered her a hand and pulled her to her feet. “You can’t let your relationship with Henry, or lack thereof, to dictate your life. Go to the party. Smile, talk to some people, and maybe dance a little. If it’s still lame, come home and we’ll have a movie marathon. I’ll even make the good popcorn. Okay?”

“Okay. Hey, Han? You’re the best-est sister ever. You know that? I love you.”

“Love you more. Go get ready.”

 

 **********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

 

           

            A few hours later, “What did you say?” Poppy shouted.

            “I said, “ARE YOU HAVING FUN?”  Benedict shouted over the loud music at the club. 

            Poppy shrugged. Dinner had been decent actually, but she supposed it had been because Henry had been sitting at the other end of the room at another table. From her viewpoint, Poppy could see Jessica’s head swiveling back and forth like a bobble head as she went from conversation to conversation, but barely touched her food. _Her loss_ , Poppy thought to herself. Here at the club it had been harder to avoid them, and Poppy forced a smile as Jessica insisted on a round of shots for everyone. She thought she was going to lose her dinner when Jessica insisted on giving Henry his drink, holding it for him as he gulped the shot of tequila down, then leaned in for the lime that Jessica held between her teeth. Poppy needed to get away. Reaching for Ben she yelled,

            “Ben, I wanna dance! Let’s dance!”

            Ben shook his head, insisting, “you go ahead, darling, I’m just going to pop outside for a quick smoke, ok?”

            Shrugging, Poppy grabbed one of the crew guys, and headed for the dance floor. Within minutes she was laughing and dancing, a whole group of people around her. Maybe tonight wouldn’t be so bad after all. She didn’t even notice when Jessica was suddenly one of the ones in the group dancing, until she yelled, “Let’s get another shot!”

            Poppy shrugged and allowed herself to be tugged off the dance floor. A few of the crewmembers followed them, as they all did another shot of tequila. Before she could head back to the dance floor, Benedict handed her another shot. Just as before, she drank, only this time it was Ben holding the lime as she grabbed him and pulled it out of his mouth, and kissed him, oblivious to the cheers of the crowd. Someone handed her another shot and she tossed it back before spinning to join the crowd on the dance floor again. She spun a little to quickly though, and stumbled, but before she could fall, a hand shot out to grab her. Looking up, she saw Henry peering down at her.

            “I think you’ve had enough, don’t you?”

            Poppy shrugged him off, glaring at him. “You can’t tell me what to do-oo. I do what I want. Because I’m awwessommme.” With that she flounced out to the dance floor. Grabbing someone’s hand she began spinning around and around, then started backing up, practically grinding on him.

            Henry turned back to find Benedict watching. “Aren’t you going to do something? This isn’t like her. She’d be humiliated to find out she’d acted this way.”

            Ben handed Henry a pint, as he shrugged. “Relax, man. She’s just having a bit of fun. Aren’t you being a bit too hard on her, mate?” With that, he took a sip of his own pint, leaning back against the bar.

            Henry turned back to the dance floor, his eyes zooming in on Poppy immediately. She swayed back and forth, grinding her hips and laughing as she danced unsteadily. He marched over to the dance floor, and began threading his way between bodies to make his way over to her.

            “HEYYYY!! You made it! Do you dance with me?” Poppy tossed her arms around his neck, and began swaying back and forth. In a singsong voice she began chanting, “you wanna dance with me, you wanna kiss me, you wanna fuck me” and began giggling maniacally.

            Henry grabbed her arms, and pulled them down to her sides. People were beginning to stare. He leaned in and carefully stated, “Poppy. I think that’s enough. You need to go now, ok? Time to go home.”  With that, he tried to start guiding her off the dance floor.

            Poppy jerked herself away, pouting, as she yelled, “NO I wanna stay! I wanna dance! I’m gonna DANCE my troubles away!” Giggling drunkenly to herself as she started hopping up and down to the music. Groaning in frustration, Henry reached for her, and tried again.

            “Poppy, this is not the time, ok? Come on, let’s get you home.”

            Poppy glared at him and shouted, “You aren’t my booyyfrriennd. You can’t order me around. You only want to FUCK me.” She spat out the word “fuck” like a naughty child might, and giggled again.

            That did it. If she wouldn’t come willingly, and Benedict wasn’t willing to do something, Henry would have to handle it on his own. Grabbing both of her hands in one of his, Henry bent down, and tossed Poppy over his shoulder. Using the other arm to clamp around her knees so she couldn’t kick him, he marched across the club and out the front door as Poppy unleashed a string of curse words that would make a sailor blush. A bouncer opened the waiting car door for him, and as Henry arranged Poppy and himself in the backseat, he heard the distinctive sound of cameras behind him and cursed aloud.

           


End file.
